


Making It Count

by JCapasso



Series: Making It Count [1]
Category: Haven (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-19
Updated: 2020-12-19
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:21:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 11,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28170843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JCapasso/pseuds/JCapasso
Summary: When Arla spills the beans about Audrey telling her, as Claire, how much she loved Duke, Duke can't just let her go without telling her how he feels.
Relationships: Duke Crocker/Audrey Parker
Series: Making It Count [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2064303
Comments: 4
Kudos: 11





	1. Chapter 1

Duke helped Arla get James to the barn. “You did all this for him?” he tried to make conversation to stall for Audrey and Nathan to get there.

“I did it for us,” she said gently. “You ever been in love, Crocker?” she asked. 

“No,” Duke lied. 

“Well if you had, then you’d understand,” she assured him, but before he could respond Audrey and Nathan got there. “Don’t move!” Arla ordered before telling Duke, “Crocker get their guns.” Duke walked slowly towards them while Arla continued making demands. “You’re gonna take him inside the barn, make him better, and then bring him back out to me.”

“No,” Audrey said firmly.

“Oh you will,” she said assuredly. “And by the way, if you don’t come back this time? I’ll blow Nathan’s brains out.”

Duke had made it to them by that point and turned with a smirk. “No. You won’t.” When she looked at him in betrayal, Duke explained. “Remember when you were Tommy? Gave me that gun with no bullets in it?” He held up a bullet in his hand and taunted, “I didn’t forget that,” as he stalked slowly towards her. When she tried to shoot him anyway, he snatched the gun out of her hand and threw it aside as Audrey went to check on James.

“You used me to bring James to her,” Arla realized.

“Yahtzee,” Duke said smugly as Nathan pulled his gun on Arla.

“I thought you wanted the troubles to stop,” she accused.

“I do,” Duke admitted. “But I want Audrey to stick around more. It seems your James is the only one who knows how to make both those things happen.”

When Audrey realized that James needed to go in the barn now if he was going to survive, she took a minute to convince them that she would be able to come back out, but that just gave James the chance to disappear inside the barn alone. “I have to go after him. He’s my only chance,” she explained.

“Then I’m going with you,” Nathan decided.

“Me too,” Duke added.

“You’re not leaving me out here again,” Arla tried to fight Duke’s hold.

“You’re not going in,” Audrey said harshly.

“How are you going to stop me once you’re inside the barn?”

“I guess someone is gonna have to stay out here and watch the skin-purse,” Duke sighed. “Nathan?” he said as they walked by him. “You make sure she comes back out.”

Duke leaned against the door, watching Arla like a hawk as she paced, not letting down his guard. She couldn’t stay quiet for long. “I need to know what’s going on in there.”

“Settle down. You’re not the only one with someone inside this damn thing,” Duke admitted.

“You love Audrey don’t you?” Arla figured out. When Duke just gave her a look, she said, “At least admit it to yourself.”

“Shut up,” Duke pushed off the barn, pointing the gun at her. “I’m not taking advice from a walking purse.” 

Arla smirked wider as she realized the best possible way to pay him back for this. By making him realize everything he could have had if only Audrey could stay. Let him know exactly what he was losing. “You know, Once the secret was out about Colorado, Audrey talked to me…Claire…a lot about it,” Arla said conversationally. 

“I said, shut up!” Duke put the gun in her face. 

Arla knew he wouldn’t pull the trigger. He wasn’t a killer. Not unless she actually tried to get in the barn anyway and even then he’d be more likely to shoot her in the leg. “How much she loved you. How she wished you felt the same way. How you were her rock. The only thing keeping her strong with all this going on.”

“You’re lying,” Duke said coldly, not moving the gun from her head. 

“It’s too bad really. She’ll never know how you feel and you’ll never know what you could have had if things had been different,” she taunted. 

Before things could go any further, they were surrounded by the guard intent on keeping Audrey in that barn. Duke was outnumbered eight guns to one and the only solution he could see was to keep them talking as long as possible and hope for a miracle, so he did just that. When Audrey stuck her head out inviting Arla in, that at least took one thing off his mind, even if he did wonder what she had up her sleeve. He knew that Audrey wouldn’t have invited her for no reason. She had to have some kind of plan. Now if he could just think one up out here.

Nathan came out first, carrying Arla’s body and when Audrey came out, Nathan was right there asking, “What did James say?”

“He was wrong. Killing him…it won’t work.” Audrey took a deep breath before starting her goodbyes. She would save the hardest for last though. She headed over to Dwight first, then Dave, then Vince before moving on to Duke. Duke. You have always been so good to me,” she said sadly, placing a hand on his chest. 

“It was easy,” he said softly. “Well, no. Not really. But you know me. I love a challenge.”

“I’m sorry I won’t remember you when I get back,” she said shakily before leaning up to press a lingering kiss to his cheek. “Especially Colorado,” she whispered in his ear. 

Duke sucked in a sharp breath as she moved away and didn’t let her go far, resting his forehead against hers as he screwed up his courage. He knew now that Arla had been telling the truth about her feelings and he couldn’t bear to let her go thinking that he didn’t feel the same. “Audrey…” he whispered. “I need you to know…before you go…I love you. I’ve always loved you.”

Audrey had a hundred questions that statement brought up. A hundred things she wanted to do and say. She knew there wasn’t time though and it wasn’t like she would remember the answers anyway. Instead she just did what she’d wanted to do in the first place and tilted her head forward to press a slow sweet kiss to his lips and he kissed her back with all the love he could muster before whispering back. “I love you too, Duke. Never forget that. Even if I have to.” 

Duke couldn’t find words, so he just settled for a nod before he finally tore himself away from her, tears shining in both their eyes and Audrey turned to Nathan who was just coming back from watching the others leave, jumping in his arms and giving him a crushing hug. “No. No this is not goodbye,” Nathan said desperately before turning to Howard. “Take me with you.” He hadn’t seen the kiss between Duke and Audrey so didn’t realize that anything had changed there. 

“No, Nathan,” Audrey tried to calm him. “Nathan, I won’t be alone, alright? I’ll be with our son.” If she was going to take anyone with her it would be Duke, but she wasn’t going to tell him that. Wasn’t going to use her last moments to rip his heart out. 

Nathan put his hands to her cheeks and kissed her hard before saying firmly, “I am gonna die before I let you go.” 

“I know,” she said fearfully as she grabbed the gun from his waist and held it behind her. “Duke!” she called, backing towards him and holding Nathan away from the gun. “Make sure Nathan does not follow me in. Promise me.” 

“Audrey don’t do this,” Nathan fought as hard as he could. 

“Promise me that, Duke!” Audrey begged. 

“I promise, Audrey,” Duke said softly, hating every second of this despite how good it felt that he was the one she trusted. 

Duke moved to take over holding Nathan back from Audrey as Nathan said, “We’re not letting her go in there,” and tried to push past him.

“Yes. We are,” Duke snapped, raising his gun to point at Nathan. Did Nathan really think that he liked this? That he wouldn’t give just about anything to stop her? When Nathan kept fighting, Duke grabbed him and held tight. “Listen…she is trying to help all these people. She is trying to help this town. And it is /her/ choice. It’s not yours. It’s not mine.” Nathan started calming down so Duke let go as he said, “And I hate it. But it’s still her choice.”

“You’re in love with her too,” Nathan realized.

“Yeah,” Duke breathed out, almost inaudibly. He wasn’t going to hide that. He wasn’t going to pretend. 

“Then how can you let her go?” he asked incredulously. “Look at her,” he pushed Duke to turn around as Audrey walked slowly towards the barn. “Look at her!” he yelled with another push. As his eyes caught Audrey’s while she looked back, Nathan took advantage of that and grabbed the gun, causing Audrey to panic and run the last few steps to the barn and jump inside. She could hear Nathan pounding on the door, but it wouldn’t budge. Apparently, she could control it that way too.

As Nathan finally gave up on assaulting the barn, Howard said, “I thought it was made clear. That won’t work on the barn.”

“/That/ was made clear,” Nathan told him, getting another idea. “But what about hurting you?” he pointed his gun at Howard.

Duke was trying to figure out if rushing Nathan would spook him and make him shoot before Duke could get the gun away or not when another shot rang out as Jordan shot Nathan. Unfortunately, in his haste to catch Nathan and stop Jordan, Nathan managed to shoot Howard. By the time Jordan was down and not shooting anymore, bright spots of light were exploding from Howard and the barn looked like it was falling apart. “Get her Duke,” Nathan said, not at all caring about his own bullet wounds that he couldn’t feel anyway. “Go…save her!” 

Duke only hesitated for a moment before rushing towards the collapsing barn with a yell of, “Audrey!” as he dived in.


	2. Chapter 2

Duke had no idea how it happened, but he remembered falling out of the barn and landing in a stupid fish tank. Now he was handcuffed to a hospital bed waiting for a psych eval and learning that somehow in the last few seconds six months had passed. His only thought was for Audrey though. He had to get out of here and find her. He had to know that she was okay. That was turning out easier said than done though. Just when he was starting to consider the crazier ideas the nurse let on that his sister was visiting and he was more than a little suspicious, but when she said her name was Audrey, he felt a swell of hope. That hope was dashed when someone that was clearly not Audrey came in, but at least she was going to help him get out of here and find Audrey so that was something at least. 

His first step was to contact Nathan. If Audrey made it out and couldn’t get to him given that his phone had been confiscated, even if it did still work after his unintended swim, her next call would be to Nathan. When that didn’t pan out, he turned to Vince and Dave which didn’t lead him to Audrey, but did lead him to Nathan. He would need Nathan’s help if this ended up being as complicated as he was starting to fear and Jennifer agreed to take him. Getting to Haven and being stopped by the guns was less surprising than the plan that Nathan threw out there to get them to back down and once they were alone he had to ask, “Okay, show’s over. Your plan isn’t really to let Audrey kill you. I mean, you were just…putting one over on the guard right?”

“No, that is the plan,” Nathan said seriously.

“Okay, I’m not really up on what’s going on, but that is a bad plan,” Jennifer chimed in.

“It’s the only way to stop the troubles,” Nathan tried to reason. “Everything that’s happening in this town is my fault.”

Duke couldn’t actually argue with that, so he tried a different way. “Audrey’s never gonna go for this.”

“Audrey was willing to walk into that barn and have her personality stripped away, to forget everyone she ever cared about. Audrey was willing to die to stop the troubles,” Nathan argued.

“Let’s just say you’re right. That means for the troubles to end, you have to be Audrey’s true love. Are you sure about that?” Duke asked skeptically. 

“I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life,” Nathan said confidently as he walked off and left Duke and Jennifer behind. 

Duke was considering whether to tell him the truth or not. On one hand, Nathan was already so brittle and learning who Audrey really loved could shatter him. Plus the fact that the guard would never accept Nathan living, so if it got out that he couldn’t be used to end the troubles, he wouldn’t survive the day. On the other hand though, if they did get Audrey back, they couldn’t hide it forever and Nathan would have his hopes up only for them to be stomped on. He would be less fragile if Audrey was okay though, and if she wasn’t then there was no reason for him to ever know. Besides, his life trumped his feelings, so Duke decided to keep his mouth shut on the subject. At least for now. 

The next week was a nightmare and a half and Duke was losing more and more hope by the day. It didn’t help that he was constantly having to shield Jennifer from Nathan, both of them more than a little fragile in their own ways. Jennifer couldn’t handle the pressure and was more than a little freaked out by Nathan’s intensity and Nathan’s desperation had his usual intensity ramping up a dozen notches. When they finally made a breakthrough, his first priority was keeping Nathan far enough away that he couldn’t set them back again so he was almost glad that there was a trouble to send Nathan to deal with. 

When they finally did get her back, she wasn’t Audrey anymore. She was Lexi. Supposedly. Duke wasn’t so sure from the start, but he played along. It wasn’t until she stepped aside in that basement that he was positive so he went to the Gull and waited for her, knowing that she would turn up there. While he waited, he had an argument with Wade and then a conversation with Jennifer that ended in her deciding to go back to Boston. She just couldn’t handle all this craziness and now that she was normal again, she wanted her life back. Once she left, Duke had nothing to distract him from his thoughts as he waited for Audrey. 

It was all Audrey could do to keep from jumping him and kissing him senseless right now. She had every intention of doing just that the second they were alone, but for now…out in the open…she had to keep up the act. “So, I used to live /here/?” she pointed up from the deck as Duke came out the door. “What was I? Broke? I mean…it’s nice and everything. It’s a little nautical,” she said in full Lexi demeanor as he came out the door. 

“Well I’m glad you like it,” Duke said, trying to decide if he was going to confront her or not. Once he decided, he smirked. “You owe me six months rent,” he joked.

Audrey laughed. That was so Duke. “I just tried to save your life. Shouldn’t I get the first month free?”

“You know, I’ve been thinking about what happened down in that basement,” Duke said with a smirk. “You just stepped aside and let Tyler try to take me.”

“I’m sorry. I don’t know what to say. I just…I…I didn’t want to get stabbed. I was scared,” she lied, looking down at the floor and shifting nervously. If he could just take her upstairs, she could drop this stupid act and tell him the truth. She just hoped he would understand when she did. 

When she tried to walk away, Duke moved in front of her. “See, that’s where I get stuck,” he said, meeting her eyes for the first time and seeing Audrey there. “You jumped out of that barn. Went down in that basement. I guess I’m just having a hard time believing that you were scared.” He paused to give her a chance to say something but when she didn’t, he decided that he would have to be blunt. “I think you knew that my curse would kick in and save me.”

“I really wouldn’t know the first thing about it,” she said as she brushed by him to walk away, twirling her hair, trying to move this upstairs. 

“But Audrey Parker would,” Duke called after her, seeing her steps falter like she was trying to make a decision. “Isn’t that right…Audrey.”

Audrey froze for a long moment, torn between admitting the truth and keeping up the act. “Damnit Duke,” she breathed out before spinning around and all but jumping into his arms. “But not here. Show me to my apartment already, would you?” she whispered before jumping away as quickly as she’d hugged him. 

Duke felt a little better as he realized why she’d kept up the act and he nodded. “Come on,” he told her as he headed for the stairs and the second the door closed behind them, he’d barely turned around before her lips were on his and he was kissing her back with the same desperation, spinning her around and pressing her back tightly against the door and this time, unlike Colorado, neither of them were stopping. Not until Duke went to pick her up and stumbled as a whimper of pain pulled from his throat. 

“Oh crap. Your leg,” Audrey realized with a wince. “I’m sorry. Come here and let me see it.”

“It’s fine. It’s not that bad,” he tried to put her off. At least long enough to get himself under control again. 

Audrey rolled her eyes with a mutter of, “men,” as she dragged him over to the couch, motioning for him to drop his pants as she went to grab the first aid kit. Duke huffed and just did as she asked, ignoring how much more prominent his erection was with just his underwear in the way as he sat down. It didn’t help the situation at all when Audrey came over and knelt in front of him. The pain from the alcohol and then the bandaging helped at least, as did the conversation she started.


	3. Chapter 3

“So what the hell happened?” she asked him, trying to get her mind off where she really wanted this to go. She knew that he needed that leg taken care of first though, and she should probably try and get a better lay of the land before jumping into bed anyway. “Why does everyone seem to think that my killing Nathan will end the troubles? Did you not tell them about…you know…”

“No. I didn’t,” he admitted. “But not because I changed my mind or didn’t mean it or anything like that,” he added quickly as he saw the insecurity creep onto her face. “Just…see I’ve only been back from the barn for a week myself.”

“Wait, you were in the barn?” she asked confused. 

“Yeah. When it started going down, I jumped in to try and save you, but I got spit out back in Boston. It only seemed like a few seconds to me, but it ended up being six months here,” he told her before getting back to the important part. “When I managed to track down Nathan, he was a mess and then he got into questioning Jennifer about the barn and I didn’t get a chance to bring anything else up before we got back to town and ended up surrounded by guns.”

“Seems like that’s becoming a habit around here,” she huffed in irritation. 

“Yeah. Unfortunately,” Duke agreed. “But then Nathan started going on about his whole plan and since it was the only reason the guard didn’t kill him on the spot, I figured it would be best to keep my mouth shut and keep him alive. I couldn’t let them think he was expendable, you know?” 

“Yeah, that makes sense,” Audrey sighed. 

“Which brings me to the next thing you should know. The deal I made with the guard,” Duke said hesitantly as she finished bandaging his leg and moved so he could pull his pants back up. 

“I was wondering about that,” Audrey said curiously as she sat next to him on the couch, unable to resist reaching out to run her fingers through his hair. 

“Yeah, see, they were going to kill him and the only chance I had of stopping it was to suggest that he and Lexi work together to get her to fall for him and then end the troubles that way,” Duke told her, more than a little worried about how she was going to take it. “I know it’s nothing more than buying time at this point, but…”

“No, I get it,” she said despondently, leaning her head on his shoulder as his arm wrapped around her. “There wasn’t really another way. I just hate that we have to keep us secret…I mean…if there is an us,” she sat back up. “I know we never really…defined anything or…well…”

“Audrey,” Duke cut her off, moving his hand to her chin. “I love you. Secret or not, I would like there to be an ‘us’.” 

She let out a breath of relief and nodded. “Me too,” she whispered. She felt like they had lost so much time already and she didn’t want to lose anymore. He smiled brightly and leaned forward pressed a soft loving kiss to her lips and then she was back curled up at his side. “You’re not going to ask me to end the troubles are you?” she asked worriedly. 

“No, I’m not,” he said sadly, leaning his head against hers. “Not because I’m not willing, because I am. I want you to know that.” 

“I know. But I still can’t. I won’t,” she shook her head. 

“I know,” he told her, pressing a calming kiss to her head. “For the same reason that you couldn’t /not/ go in the barn. You couldn’t live with yourself afterwards and I would never ask you to take on that burden. Not for me, not for the whole damn town.” 

Audrey smiled and leaned up for a kiss. “Thank you,” she whispered. She would never figure out how he always understood her so completely. It also drove home the point that Nathan didn’t. He had tried to stop her from going. He had been willing to sacrifice everything…every/one/…including their son, just so he could hold onto her. She was having a hard time not hating him right now. “Do you think we can get away with you staying tonight?” she asked hopefully. 

“I think so, yeah. The only person who might notice that I’m not on the boat tonight would be Wade and since he’s pissed at me right now, he probably won’t. Even if he did, he wouldn’t assume I was up here anyway.” 

“Good,” she said relieved. “I mean, I know your leg hurts and all and even if all we do is sleep, I just…need to be close to you right now, you know?” 

“I do know,” Duke assured her. He felt the same way. He did need to be clear on a few things though. “So, how are we playing this? I mean, I know that you and I are staying secret, but what about the rest?” 

“Well obviously I’m gonna have to pretend to keep being Lexi in public,” she thought out loud.

“Are you sure you can pull that off though?” he asked. “I mean, you did pretty good today, but we’re talking about a long term con. Those aren’t easy. Believe me.” 

“Know from experience do you?” she chuckled. 

“Yes, actually,” he admitted amusedly. “But I’m not giving you any details. Don’t want to tempt you to arrest me or anything.”

Audrey shook her head ruefully and looked up at him. “Leaving off the fact that if I’m pretending to be Lexi, arresting you would kinda blow my cover…I wouldn’t arrest you anyway. I hope you know that.” 

“Really?” Duke asked skeptically. 

She shifted to look at him seriously and said an earnest, “Really.” She reached up and brushed a hand down his cheek. “I know I threatened it a lot when we first met and all, but I didn’t know you as well then. I do now. And I know that no matter how many lines you cross, you’re a good man. And I love you. There is nothing that would make me arrest you.” 

“Even if I gave into my curse and was going around killing people?” he asked, trying to get a feel for how far this attitude went. 

“I would lock you up then, yeah, but to try and help you. Not to actually charge you with anything. I can’t promise that I’ll agree with everything you do, and I can’t promise I won’t try and talk you out of any particularly stupid stunts, but I won’t ever arrest you. Or give anyone else a reason to,” she promised. 

“Okay,” Duke breathed out. “I believe you.” And that scared him most of all. He didn’t trust easily, but he had always found trusting Audrey so easy and if she said that she would never arrest him, then he believed her. “But it’s still a story for another time. We were talking about you pulling off Lexi.” 

“Right. Yeah,” she got back on track. “It’ll be easy. See, unlike Lucy and Sarah, I remember Lexi. I remember being her. I have all her thoughts and memories. Like a dream or a fantasy. It’ll just be a matter of letting myself immerse in that side of me.” 

“Just make sure you don’t lose /Audrey/ in the process?” 

“I won’t,” she smiled, curling back up in his arms. “Because Audrey is the one that loves you. As long as I have you to hold onto, I’ll never lose that part of me.” 

“Good. Because Audrey is the one I love too,” Duke told her. “Not that Lexi doesn’t seem like a lot of fun,” he chuckled. “But she’s not you.” Duke considered something else and asked, “Are we going to tell Nathan?”

“About me being Audrey or about us?” she asked. 

“Either? Both?” 

“I’m gonna say no,” Audrey told him. 

“You realize he’s gonna figure out that you’re Audrey,” Duke pointed out. 

“Why’s he have to do that?” 

“Because when you care about someone, you just…you can’t…I mean…”

“Except he doesn’t care about me. Not really,” Audrey sighed. “If he did then he wouldn’t have done any of the things he did. Kill the barn. Kill James. Sleep with Sarah in the first place. Try and get me to kill him. He would have thought about how those things would make me feel. Like /you/ did.” 

“Still…”

“Still nothing. You were possessed half the day and barely saw me at all and you still managed to see through me. He didn’t even after spending the entire day with me. Hours of it locked in a stupid closet together. That should tell you enough right there. He’s obsessed with me because he can feel my touch. Like he could feel Sarah’s. He’s obsessed with his own wants and needs and doesn’t care about mine.” 

“Okay. I see your point,” Duke admitted. “But he’s still going to find out eventually and when he does…”


	4. Chapter 4

“When he does…and he finds out that it’s you I love…do you really think that he won’t shift that plan of his onto you? That he won’t change from trying to get me to kill him to trying to get me to kill you? Especially since that’ll leave the board clear for him?” she asked pointedly. 

Duke frowned as he considered that. He wanted to think that Nathan wouldn’t go that far. That Nathan wouldn’t sacrifice him as easily as he was willing to sacrifice himself. But then he considered everything that Nathan had sacrificed already and he wasn’t so sure. “I don’t know,” was all he could say. 

“Well I’m not looking forward to finding out,” she told him, letting him keep that much of his delusion. Nathan had killed his own son, after all. She didn’t doubt that he would sacrifice Duke just as easily. “We keep this under wraps as long as we can. Both the fact that I’m Audrey and the fact that we’re together. Promise?” 

“I promise, Audrey,” he agreed with a sigh. Part of him wanted to find out, but a bigger part of him didn’t want to know. Either way, whatever happened would happen. He still thought that Nathan would figure it out soon enough though and it turned out that he was right. 

They had spent the weekend together, with him making himself seen at certain places and expected times, but come Monday there was a new case and even with him trying to run interference, she slipped up and Nathan was let in on the secret. At least the first one. He was still in the dark about the second one and they planned to keep him that way. Especially since Duke now had far too much on his mind since his brother had gone and intentionally activated his trouble. Audrey offered to help Duke with Wade, but Duke wanted to handle it himself and asked her to please let him. She agreed unless it became a matter of public safety, neither of them realizing that it already was. 

It only took a few days for Nathan to start the conversation that Audrey had been dreading and he started a fight about Lexi. “Lexi’s not going anywhere so just drop it,” Audrey said firmly.

“I can’t. I don’t think I can do this anymore,” Nathan said desperately.

“Nathan, what’s your problem? Is this really about Lexi? Because you didn’t have a problem with Sarah.”

“Oh so this about Sarah now?”

“She’s a part of me too. A part that apparently, you’re pretty familiar with,” she couldn’t help but add. 

“I’m not going to apologize for what happened. You have no idea how hard this has been for me,” Nathan snapped.

“For you?” Audrey said incredulously. “At least you have the luxury of being one person. At least you know who you are. You know /what/ you are.”

“Well I want to know what /we/ are,” he snapped.

“Too much has happened, Nathan,” she shook her head. “We can’t be Audrey and Nathan. Not anymore. We work together. That’s it.” She just hoped that he would leave it at that.

“Right. See you at work,” Nathan said angrily as he stormed out. He only made it as far as the stairs though before he turned and went back. “I don’t care who you are. Or what you are. I love you.”

Before she could open her mouth to say anything he was kissing her and she froze. It only took a few seconds for her to push him away. Unfortunately, when she did, she looked up to see Duke standing in the doorway before he turned and walked away. Audrey couldn’t help but slap Nathan as she ran after Duke. “Duke, wait. It’s not what you think…”

Duke took a few deep steadying breaths before he turned around. “I know,” he said evenly. “But I still just…I can’t deal with this right now. I just…We’ll talk tomorrow.” He turned and walked away stiffly. 

Audrey was torn on whether or not to go after him or give him the space he clearly needed right now. It was obvious that something was bothering him. That something had happened. She just didn’t know what. She was pulled from her indecision by Nathan’s voice. “Audrey? What is this?” he asked accusingly. 

She spun around and glared at him before motioning him back upstairs and inside, slamming the door behind her. “What part of ‘we can’t be together’ didn’t you understand?” she asked angrily. 

“What’s going on with you and Duke?” Nathan ignored her question to ask his own. 

“That’s none of your business,” she snapped. 

“But I’ll bet the guard would make it their business,” Nathan countered heatedly, that being enough of an answer for him. 

“You wouldn’t dare,” she warned in almost a growl. 

“You don’t think they deserve to know that there’s a way to end the troubles now?” he asked incredulously. 

“So you’re just gonna throw Duke’s head on the chopping block?” she asked disgustedly. 

“It’s his own fault isn’t it? He’s the one who pitched the whole idea of you falling in love with me to end the troubles and then swoops in and steals you for himself as soon as I start getting close,” Nathan accused. 

“That is /not/ what happened,” Audrey snarled. “We loved each other long before the barn. We were together before I even went in.” She left out that they had just sort of gotten together during their goodbye. “Then you started talking about /your/ plan to make me kill you and when it was the only thing that saved your life, he kept his mouth shut. To buy time. Yeah, he came up with the modification when he thought I was Lexi, but it was still just to buy time. Using /your/ plan. To keep you /alive/. And you’re going to repay that by putting his life in danger? And what do you think the guard is going to do to /you/ now that you’re not needed anymore huh?” 

“Wait…you were together before the barn and you never told me?” Nathan asked, going from angry to hurt. 

“There wasn’t time,” she huffed. “We had /just/ admitted how we felt before everything happened. And that’s not the point here.” 

“You’re right. The point is that you can end all the troubles, and you and Duke are being selfish enough to refuse,” Nathan pointed out. 

“It’s not selfishness, Nathan,” she snapped. “Do you really think I could ever live with myself if I did that?” 

“I don’t know. Can you live with yourself after watching however many people die from these troubles every day?” he countered, knowing that he was being unfair, but he was more than a little hurt and was lashing out against the people who had hurt him. It didn’t matter why they did it. They had intentionally set him up for this. At least to his mind. 

Audrey’s hand connected to his cheek even harder than the last time, leaving a bright red handprint. “Get out,” she hissed, beyond pissed. “Oh and Nathan?” she said as he got to the door. “If the guard comes after Duke…he and I are both going to get the hell out of this town and leave you all to fend for yourselves. Of course, they’ll probably have already killed you by then so I doubt it’ll matter much to you.” Nathan continued out the door without a word and as much as part of Audrey wanted to just burst into tears and fall apart, more of her was worried about Duke. 

She knew that he’d said they’d talk tomorrow, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that he needed her now. He had come up here for a reason and he had to have seen Nathan’s Bronco outside so he wouldn’t have risked it if it wasn’t important. She took a few deep breaths for calm, and to give Nathan time to leave, before she headed down to the Rouge to look for him. She knew that this was risky too. That ‘Lexi’ had no reason to be on the Cape Rouge. But she didn’t care right now. When she walked in he was sitting at the bar, tossing back shots. She was about to ask him what happened when she noticed it on the floor. It looked suspiciously like a wrapped body. She slowly stepped over and pulled the top back, letting out a gasp when she saw Wade’s face and quickly covered it back up. 

“He didn’t give me a choice,” Duke said hauntedly. He’d heard her come in. Known that she would see. It didn’t matter anymore.


	5. Chapter 5

Audrey swallowed around the lump in her throat, feeling even more like shit than ever. Here he was, trying to deal with one of the worst things imaginable and comes to her for help only to find Nathan kissing her. She stepped up behind him, completely understanding that he didn’t want to look at her right now, and rested her chin on his shoulder and her forehead against his head. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered as one arm wrapped around his chest and the other hand undid his ponytail so that she could run her fingers through his hair. Duke leaned back slightly against her, soaking up the comfort she was offering as she pressed a kiss to his temple. “What can I do?” she asked softly. 

Duke just shook his head. “I need to…to take care of him…myself,” he managed to say after a few minutes. 

“Okay,” Audrey agreed before reaching over to pull the glass gently from his hand, giving him a chance to stop her, but he didn’t, so she took his hand and led him back towards the bedroom. “Let’s get some sleep okay?” 

“If anyone finds you here…”

“I don’t care,” Audrey said seriously. It wasn’t like anyone would go walking into his bedroom to know that she slept here and she could make up some other excuse for being here in any other situation. Besides, if Nathan carried out his threat, which she absolutely was /not/ going to tell Duke about right now, it wouldn’t matter anyway. Duke followed her meekly to bed and held her close to his side as the combination of alcohol and emotional turmoil dragged him to sleep quickly. 

Audrey wasn’t quite so lucky. She laid awake for hours, Nathan’s words echoing in her ears, Wade’s dead face haunting her every time she closed her eyes, Duke’s heartache that fell heavy in the room. They couldn’t go on like this. The troubles had to end. Somehow. She could never kill Duke. That wasn’t an option, but there had to be a way. They just had to find it. She finally did drift off to sleep eventually, but when she woke up, she was alone and there was a note from Duke telling her that he was leaving. Alone. She felt the tears well up in her eyes at the thought of it. The note said nothing about coming back. 

She picked herself up and headed back to her apartment to change and get ready for the day, despite wanting nothing more than to curl up in bed and sob. By the time she finished her shower though, her head was a little clearer. He would be back. Even if he didn’t know it yet. He needed to get his head straight, but then he’d come back. He would never just abandon her like that. He wasn’t that kind of person. She would let him go do what he needed to do and hopefully by the time he got back, she would have come up with a way to end this mess for good. 

It wasn’t long after she came to that conclusion when she got a call for a case. Some kind of pressure trouble. She couldn’t ignore the pang she felt in her heart when she learned that it had been Duke who called nine one one. He’d called them, but not her. She pushed it away. She understood that he was dealing with a lot right now and just desperately hoped that none of this was about Nathan and what he’d seen last night. He’d said that he knew it wasn’t what it looked like and that helped, but she still couldn’t shake the worry. 

Nathan cornered her not long after she got to the scene and told her, “I didn’t tell anyone.” 

“Are you going to?” she asked coldly. 

“No,” Nathan sighed. “But I still think you should. I still think you’re both being selfish.” He expected as much from Duke. The king of selfish, but he’d expected better from Audrey. 

Audrey grit her teeth and took a few deep breaths for clam before this argument ended up being broadcast to the whole street. “More selfish than blowing up the barn in the first place to save one person? More selfish than killing your own son?” she hissed before walking back to the scene and leaving a gob smacked Nathan behind. It was a few more minutes before he joined her. 

Audrey managed to prevent Nathan from asking Duke for help when they ran across him at the docks, but she wasn’t able to prevent Jack from doing so later on and after a bit of a blowup, Duke did end up coming through in the end. As soon as the situation was under control, he left without a word to anyone. Audrey took her time with the paperwork back at the station, not really wanting to get back and see the Cape Rouge gone before she had to. She was surprised when she got home to find it still there and was debating going down to talk to Duke once she dropped off her stuff at home. 

When Audrey got inside and closed the door behind her, she was startled at first to be swept up in a kiss, but she immediately recognized Duke and sank happily into it. When he pulled back and rested his forehead against hers, he breathed out, “I’m sorry. I’m an idiot. Please tell me I didn’t screw this up for good?” 

Audrey reached up and brushed that lock of hair that always came loose behind his ear. “No, Duke. We’re okay. Are you?” she asked gently. 

“No,” he admitted honestly. “But I will be. Eventually.”

“I think that’s all any of us can hope for,” she said sadly. 

Duke wanted to talk about something else. Anything else. He led her over to the couch and asked, “What happened with Nathan?” 

“We had a fight and he ended up asking me what he and I were to each other and I told him that we worked together and that was it. He didn’t like that answer and told me that he loved me and kissed me. I froze and that’s when you came in. I pushed him away and slapped him and then went after you,” she told him. 

“I figured it was something like that,” he nodded. “But mostly I meant after. He didn’t leave for a while.”

“When I came after you, he figured out that we were together and that started another fight,” she shrugged, not really wanting to get into the details. 

“What’s he going to do?” was the only detail that Duke needed. 

“He’s going to keep it to himself,” she told him, having no intention of telling him that it had been touch and go for a while on that subject and she’d had to threaten to leave town. 

“Okay good. That’s good,” Duke said relieved. He was glad that his faith in Nathan wasn’t unfounded. 

Audrey could see what he was thinking and decided to leave him his delusion. The last thing he needed right now after Wade and everything was to know how little his best friend valued his life. “Does this mean you’re staying?” she had to ask. 

“Yeah,” he sighed, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her to his side where she settled comfortably. “Yeah, I’m staying.” 

“Good,” she leaned up for a kiss which soon turned to more and they fell asleep curled up together a couple hours later. 

The next day, she learned that she couldn’t kill ‘Nathan’ anyway. Vince and Dave had come to find her to ask about the barn and the ‘great evil’ that could have been released. Audrey’s first thought was that she and Duke wouldn’t have to hide anymore, but then the whole ‘great evil’ thing hit her and she resisted the urge to bang her head against a wall. Like they needed anything worse than what they already had. Once she finished her conversation with Vince and Dave, she headed out to find that Duke was there, having come to talk to Nathan and she desperately hoped that Nathan didn’t start in on Duke about ending the troubles so she went over and quickly said, “So it turns out that killing the person I love isn’t an option anymore thanks to some prophecy that Vince and Dave uncovered.” It only took a brief look at Duke to know that she’d gotten there in time and she could see that he had figured out the same thing she had. That they didn’t have to hide anymore. 

Before anything could be said about it, Nathan’s phone was ringing and he was putting it on speakerphone. It turned out Dwight had been kidnapped and it took Duke all of ten seconds to pick up the clues and know where he was. That rescue netted them William too and then things really went to hell. Nathan and Dwight were going insane and they had to be locked down. Duke babysat them while Audrey went with William to get the box only to learn how badly she’d been played. Something he said though gave her an idea. It was crazy, but it was something.


	6. Chapter 6

Duke came by after she got home and brought dinner, which she was more than a little distracted through and he waited until they were done and had moved to the couch before he asked, “Okay, what’s got you so distracted? Still upset about William playing you? Or worrying about what he’s gonna do next?” 

“No, neither of those. More like…I had kind of a crazy idea of how to fix all this and I’ve been trying to get it all together in my head,” she told him. 

“You know I can help with that right? I mean, crazy ideas are kind of my specialty,” he chuckled. 

“I know. And I was planning to bring it up to you once I got my own head wrapped around it,” she said amusedly. “You don’t happen to know if Stuart Mosely is still around do you?” 

Duke tilted his head in thought. “I see what you mean by crazy idea. So, what? You want to go back to before the barn and stop Nate from killing it?” 

“That’s the idea, yeah,” Audrey nodded. “And if I’m gonna go back that far, I might as well go back to the beginning and try and prevent as much of the bad stuff as I can.” 

“Okay…” Duke said as he turned the idea over in his mind. “Just keep in mind the kind of changes that can snowball though.”

“You don’t think it’s a good idea?” she asked, looking at him curiously. 

“No, I do,” he assured her. “I just want to make sure that you understand that you’re essentially playing god in a lot of ways. I don’t want you to end up blindsided by the kind of choices you’re going to have to make.”

“Saving lives isn’t a hard choice to make,” she pointed out. 

“No? Okay consider this one. You remember the incident where I got old and almost died. You prevent that. Save me and those other two guys and three babies are never born. Jean is never born,” he told her. 

“Oh,” she sighed. “I think I see what you mean. I hadn’t really thought it out to that degree.” 

“I know,” he told her. “That’s why I brought it up. So that you would. If you do this, you’re going to have impossible choices to make and you need to be mentally prepared for that.” 

“Okay. I appreciate that,” she nodded, mind going in a hundred new directions. 

“Also…remember that when Stuart sends you back, he sends you as is. Meaning there will be two of you running around.”

“Yeah, that’ll get difficult,” Audrey sighed. “Maybe I should just stay out of sight and pull strings behind the scenes.”

“That would probably be easiest,” Duke agreed. “But you know what it also means?” he grinned. 

“What?” she asked wondering what it was that could make him so happy. 

“That with two of you, only one of you has to go with the barn. That means that you can stick around after past you leaves,” he told her happily. 

“We don’t know that for sure,” she hated to burst his bubble. “We don’t really know much about how the barn works. For all we know me staying here while she leaves could cause some sort of feedback loop or something and destroy it all anyway. My presence here could interfere with the process. We might both have to go. Plus…we don’t know what will happen when time catches up to itself. If I’ll just disappear because I never went back or what.” 

Duke sighed sadly. “I didn’t think of that.” 

“That’s okay. That’s why we’re talking all this out,” she told him. 

“What are you going to do about me?” he asked. 

“What do you mean?” she asked confusedly. 

“I mean, are you going to let me in on the secret? The time travel, us, the barn, or are you going to keep your distance?” he asked. 

“I…don’t know,” she said with a wince. “I mean…you didn’t even really know me then…”

“Wasn’t it you who said that love can’t be so easily erased?” he asked gently. 

“Do you remember /every/ conversation we’ve ever had?” she joked, taking a moment to get her bearings. 

“Just the important ones,” he said as he kissed her head. “The one where I was in the process of admitting how I felt about you before I noticed that you’d already fallen asleep was kind of an important one.” 

“You were…but…” she smacked him playfully in the chest. “For something like that you wake me up.” Duke laughed and shook his head amusedly before Audrey got back to the point. “And yeah, love can’t be erased, but…you didn’t love me then so…”

Duke rolled his eyes. “Audrey…do you really think I make a habit of bringing feds on my boat and making them breakfast and everything rather than just dumping them at the hospital instead?” he asked wryly. 

She blinked up at him in surprise for a long moment. “So…you’re saying it was love at first sight or something?” She didn’t know how much she believed in that whole concept. 

“Not love then. Not exactly. But there was definitely something. Some connection there that I fought as long as I could until I gave in and asked you out,” Duke told her. 

“And then I stood you up,” she sighed sadly. “I really am sorry about that you know.” 

“I know,” he told her, rubbing her arm as he pulled her closer. “You’ve told me that before, remember,” he chuckled. That had been one of their first conversations after she came back from the barn. Including how it was the reason he’d been so hesitant in Colorado. Because he didn’t want to get his heart stomped on again. 

“Okay, so I guess I should be asking you then…what do /you/ want me to do? Come clean from the start or wait until we know whether or not I can stay?” Audrey asked him. 

“I would like the chance to have some happiness with you, even if it is just for a while and you have to go,” he told her honestly. “And given that all I /actually/ had with your past self was that one kiss in Colorado which I can avoid this time if you warn me…”

“Why would you want to avoid it?” she asked confused. 

“Well because if I’m with you…”

“And my past self is still me,” she pointed out before grinning and having a very Lexi idea. “I wonder how your past self would react to having both versions of me at once.” 

Duke snorted amusedly, more than a little aroused at the suggestion as he admitted, “Probably have a heart attack at first and then have the time of his life.” They both knew that it would probably never happen. “But that would mean bringing your past self in on the secret.”

“Which would be a bad idea,” she decided. “At least not until the end anyway. As much as I hated all the games that Vince and Dave played while I was trying to figure out my past selves, the more I think about this idea, the more I understand why.” 

“Yeah, which brings me to my next offer,” he said a little nervously. “You’re going to need a place to hide out. I have a safe house that you can use. One that no one else knows about, not even any business associates. It’s just a little outside of town and on the water with a boat dock so the Rouge can come and go as needed. Even if my past self doesn’t believe the note I’m gonna send, the fact that you know about that place at all will be all the proof I’ll need. There’s quite a bit of illegal stuff there though…”

“I told you I’d never arrest you,” she reminded him. “And that goes for your past self too.” 

“Which is the only reason I suggested it,” Duke told her. It didn’t make him less nervous, and would probably make his past self even more nervous, but it would be the ultimate proof that he could trust her and being able to sneak away on a ‘fishing trip’ or such to meet with her would be easier than trying to drive out of town regularly and risk being followed by suspicious detectives.

“I’m guessing you’ll be telling yourself where I am in this note you’ll be sending?” 

“That’s the idea,” he smirked. “And feel free to mess with my head by kissing me when you give it to me.”

Audrey laughed at that. “You /want/ me to mess with your head?” 

“In that way, yeah. Trust me, I’ll appreciate it,” he grinned. “Assuming you’re not planning to use this little trip to the past to cut ties with me I should say,” he joked. At least he hoped it was a joke. 

“Not a chance,” she huffed a laugh before getting back on track. “I’ll need more than you in on the secret though if I’m going to be pulling strings to change things. You weren’t really kept in the loop on much back then and unfortunately I don’t keep a journal or anything so I don’t know exact dates on anything.” 

“That’s true. Who else were you thinking?” he asked curiously. 

“The chief would probably be best,” she said thoughtfully. “Assuming I can keep him alive this time. If he dies…I guess Vince.” 

“Not Nathan?” he asked curiously. 

“Well given that the entire point of this is to protect the barn from /him/ no. Definitely not,” she shook her head. “I mean, yeah, he might react better with more advance notice of what’s going to happen or it might make it worse. It’s not worth the risk.”

“You have a point. I was thinking more about the troubles leading up to that point since he was your partner in dealing with them, but yeah, it would open up a big can of worms,” Duke nodded. He was hoping for someone that he at least liked though given that he would probably be working relatively closely with them and he’d never really gotten along well with Garland or Vince.


	7. Chapter 7

“Obviously I’ll have to meet with Garland somewhere that’s not your safe house,” she pointed out. 

“We can do that on the Rouge,” Duke suggested. “Either inside or keep you hidden until we get out to sea.” 

“Okay, can you think of anything else we need to figure out beforehand? Anyone else I might need to let in on the secret?” she asked since he was clearly better at thinking of this stuff than she was. 

“Not that I can think of, no,” Duke shook his head. “We’ll need to make sure you have a phone to keep in contact but that would have to be gotten back then if we want it to have service and I don’t see any reason why anyone else needs to know. I can keep you stocked in the safe house and work from the shadows and Garland can work within the station and pull the strings for you on that end.” 

“Okay. How much should I tell your past self?” she asked him. 

“Definitely don’t tell me about Wade. Period. Ever,” Duke said firmly, getting an emphatic nod. She hadn’t been planning to mention that at all. “Don’t tell me about my trouble until after I activate it. As much as I hate it, I get why it was needed the one time I used it, but if I know in advance, I’ll try to avoid it. As soon as it’s active though, tell me about that incident. Well after a few days to process what it is and all. Give me time to come to terms with it before I’m faced with it.” 

“You’ll be pissed that I hid it from you,” she pointed out. 

“But I’ll get over it. Especially since it’s by my own request. I’m going to mention in the note that I’ve asked you not to tell me certain things until the right time so that should help ease the way,” Duke told her. 

“Okay. What else do you want me to keep to myself?” she asked. 

“The tattooed man that’s supposed to kill me. And tell me not to let Vanessa tell me either. I don’t need that hanging over my head. Other than that, use your judgement. I trust you to know what I should know and when. Just don’t keep /too/ many secrets,” Duke told her. 

“Fair enough. I can’t think of anything else off the top of my head that I would want to keep from you anyway, but we’ll have to see as it comes up.” 

“Are you going to tell anyone else what you’re doing?” he asked. 

“I wasn’t planning on it, no. Do you think I should?” she asked curiously. 

“I think you should tell Vince. If you don’t manage to save Garland and end up going to him in the past, he might want to send himself instructions too. Hopefully something along the lines of ‘Duke isn’t a killer like the other Crockers so lay off’,” he chuckled. He and Vince had been getting along a bit better since he realized that. 

“Yeah okay. And it’s not like he would be likely to object,” Audrey decided. 

“And even if he does, it’s not like he can stop you anyway,” Duke pointed out. 

“Unless he gets the guard to move Stuart before we can get to him,” she reminded him. 

“Good point,” Duke realized. “How about this? We secure Stuart first, I don’t dare go talk to him given how he reacted last time, but if you explain it first we should be okay and I’ll keep him on the Rouge while you talk to Vince.”

“That could work,” Audrey nodded and then sighed. “I really wish you could go back with me.” 

“Why? You want a Duke sandwich?” he teased. 

Audrey laughed and shook her head. “That would be a bonus,” she teased back, “But no. So you could help me with all this. Figuring out the right strings at the right time.” 

“You’ll have my past self,” he reminded her. “Granted without the same future knowledge, but you know I’m good at figuring things out regardless. Besides, having two of me running around wouldn’t exactly be the best idea.” 

Audrey chuckled at that. “That’s very true. I don’t think this town can handle more than one Duke Crocker at a time.” 

“On second thought…” Duke smirked. 

“Don’t even think about it,” she said amusedly. She could only imagine what kind of mischief his mind had just dreamed up. 

The rest of the evening was spent talking more details and suggestions before they made their way to the bed. The next morning, Audrey went to talk to Stuart, got him on board with the idea, and dropped him off at the Rouge, after another reminder that Duke is supposed to be in this time so not to zap him anywhere. That done, she made her way to the Herald, knowing that Vince would be there despite it being a Saturday. She felt bad for leaving Dave out of the conversation, but told him it was a guard thing and that helped. 

Once she and Vince were ensconced in the back room alone, she told him, “So Duke and I came up with a way to fix the troubles.” 

“How?” Vince asked suspiciously. 

“We’re using the time travel trouble to send me back to before the barn and stop Nathan from interfering,” she told him. 

“I don’t think that’s the best idea,” Vince said nervously. “Time travel isn’t something to be toyed with.”

“Do you have a better one?” Audrey asked impatiently. “The troubles are tearing this town apart already and now with William on the rampage and we don’t even know for sure if he’s the ‘great evil’ or if there’s even more coming…we can’t keep going like this.” 

Vince sighed heavily. “Very well. I see your point. It’s not as if this timeline is something that we would want to preserve after all. Why tell me then? Clearly you’re not here asking for permission.” 

“Well my first point of contact in the past is going to be Garland Wuornos, if I can save his life. If I can’t…I’d like to be able to come to you and if you want to send yourself a letter or something explaining things it could be helpful,” she told him. 

“You plan to go that far back?” Vince asked worriedly. 

“If I’m going I might as well do it all the way and prevent as much of the death as possible, right?” she shrugged. 

“I suppose,” he said hesitantly. “And you will only bring me in if Garland dies?” 

“That’s the plan. Limiting who knows as much as possible,” she explained. 

“That’s smart. And I can see why he would be more useful at first,” Vince nodded. “I assume you have a plan to stay hidden and get supplies?” 

“Which brings me to my request for you to include in your letter to yourself,” she said, knowing that this would be the harder sell. “The only other person I plan to tell is Duke. He has a safe house and can keep me stocked and get me a burner phone to keep in contact with who I need to.” 

“I don’t like it, but I can recognize where his skills would be useful. I have come to realize that he is more trustworthy than he seems,” Vince sighed. “I assume that is what you’d like me to include in the note?”

“Yeah. Just tell your past self to ease up on him. That he’s not like the other Crockers and won’t be a threat.” 

“Just because he wasn’t last time doesn’t mean he won’t be this time. If he has advance knowledge of his curse…” Vince tried to point out. 

“He won’t,” she cut him off. “He told me not to tell him about it until after it’s active. And I’m also supposed to tell him then about the one and only time he’ll need to use it.”

“Yes. The organ harvester is one that even the guard would be glad to see off the board permanently,” Vince admitted. 

“Besides, you /know/ Duke. He’s not a killer. Curse or not. Did you know that after he killed that man, even with as necessary as it was and as many people as he saved by doing it, he still drowned himself in the bottle for days? The guilt nearly tore him apart,” Audrey pointed out. “There is no way he falls to this curse unless someone forces him into it which we won’t allow to happen.” 

“Fair enough,” Vince admitted. “Give me a few moments to write a letter.” He just hoped he wouldn’t regret this. He had to admit it was their best chance right now though and if he could get Duke working /with/ them sooner than last time it might be worth it. “How are you planning to prevent Nathan from interfering?” 

“By keeping him far away when everything goes down in the first place, even if it means having you or Garland lock him up somewhere or sedate him,” she told him. 

“Make sure you have backup plans as well,” was all Vince said to that as he started writing. 

“We will,” she promised and got the letter a few minutes later. When he sealed it, she assumed that she wasn’t supposed to read it. Duke had already told her that she’d have to ask his past self to read his letter too. 

Once she got the letter from Vince, she headed home, grabbed the bag she had packed, along with her gun and phone…so she could show Duke some of her pictures of them for further proof if needed even if it wouldn’t have service, and headed down to the Rouge. Once she had Duke’s letter too, both of them in her pockets, she was ready. 

“You should know…I’ve never tried to send anyone to an exact date before. I don’t know how well it will work,” Stuart told her. “Actually, I’ve never /tried/ to send anyone at all, so…” 

“It’s okay. Just do your best. As long as I get there sometime before last December, I can work with it,” she assured him. That was the important part. Stopping the barn from dying. The rest was just icing on the cake. A moment later she disappeared, leaving Stuart and Duke alone on the boat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since the lead-up to the time travel ended up so much longer than I intended, that part is going to be in a sequel so I don't just abruptly change tracks mid-story.


End file.
